Casablanca Warnings Or Dangers

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A little tip which might be helpful for travellers trying to get a Petit Taxi to Hasssan II Mosque... in French the mosque is called "Mosquee Hassan Deux", with an accent on the 2nd last letter of "Mosquee". The approximate pronunciation, if you don't speak French, is "Moss-kay Hassan Duh".
Outside Casa Voyageurs train station, a Petit Taxi took me to Hassan II Mosque for 25 MAD -- but on the way back it was only 14 MAD. On the TripAdvisor forum I read that it should be about 15 MAD each way in daytime, but if you take a taxi near the train station it's usually about 25-30 MAD, they rip tourists off. So, I guess I was?
Try to walk further away from Casa Voyageurs train station in order to catch your Petit Taxi.

A friendly, helpful young chap who shared my Petit Taxi to Hotel Gallia (opposite Marche Centrale), was roped in by the taxi driver to double-confirm where I was going, and he also cautioned me to be careful of my belongings as he said this is "not a very good area". Of course it didn't help that it was already evening (dark), I was a girl travelling alone, and I stand out from the local population.
A lot of local men tried to "chat me up" in English, or just shouted "konnichiwa" (mistakenly thinking I was Japanese, since that's apparently the largest East Asian minority in Casablanca) or "hello" in my direction. I ignored all of them as I've heard that Moroccan men tend to think that solo female travellers are "easy".
Solo female travellers should have this in mind, as I've read a negative review about this aspect on a TripAdvisor review about Hotel Gallia.

We were visiting Casablanca at the end of February, which is not a touristic season. At night we (two girls and two our morroccan friends) went to Casablanca corniche (a touristic area with lots of hotels, restaurants, bars and discos overcrowded during the season but empty in winter) to take a walk and look at the ocean waves at night... As we walked we noticed some drug-addict-looking guy sitting and watching us, then we noticed him when we went down to the water, but still didnt pay much attention to him as we were sure we were safe because we were 4 and had 2 strong men with us....As we continued our way talking peacefully and enjoying ourselves, with 2 of us walking some 50 m ahead, I felt somebody pulling my bag. I turned trying to pull it back but my friend screamed to let it go, and I saw that the guy (it was him who was following us all the way) raised a hand with a knife to hit me...I let him go with my bag and he run away and disapeared in an dark empty field behind a fence...That was the first day of my vacation and I had all my money, credit card, passport, phone and ipod in that bag..Only then I realized how stupid it was to carry all that stuff with me! Luckily (thanks God) our friend turned out a brave and sporty guy, so he rushed after the robber and after a while appeared from the darkness carrying my bag in one hand and a heavy stone in another...He caught and hit the guy and he dropped my bag...So, I had all my valuables back and no need to tell how happy I was and thankful to my friend...

SO! For those who dont beleive it can happen to them: yes it can! So, why not follow these easy rules? Avoid dark empty places at night (as you see, even with two men at was dangerous) and don't carry your passport and all your money with you!

Be sure to drink only bottled water that has the seal unbroken. The water is likely to give you stomach upsets. Also beware of being given drinks with ice cubes. Orange juice is also likely to be watered down and of course anything like salads and raw vegetables will have been washed in water.

Driving at night can be a little dangerous because of lack and pedestrians wandering around. Because of this lack of light local drivers usually have their lights on full beam. Cyclists tend not to have lights.

Casablanca is considered moderate to high in terms of the crime rate. There have been a series of bombings both in 2007 outside the US Consulate and in 2003 which has caused an added caution being given to tourists who can become the target of muggings, picking pocketing and assaults.

Money can be very confusing in Morocco. This confusion can be a source of rip offs and lead to gross overpayment so be aware.

Dirham is divided in to 100 centeem. Some times moroccan will qoute you the price in Centeems. to add more confusion they might give you the price in Rials. Rials are not offical and each Dirham is equal to 20 Rials.

So when you are given a price ask if this is in Rials or Dirhams to make sure that you are not over paying. To add even more consusion you have to know that in the north (Larraish, Tangier, Asila, Tetouan and ChefChaouen) the dirham is worth 2 rials (Not 20 like Casa or Fes)

Always ask about the price in Dirhams

Driving in Casablanca is straight forward ordeal once you get used to it. There are few things you got to watch out for esp. motor bikes. Most people operating motor bike don’t observe any kind of traffic laws and they don’t seem to be concerned with their safety. They won’t even stop for red traffic light.

The police is every where which is usually a good thing but you can be assured that you’ll be stopped and fined if you commit the smallest of traffic violation. Police are very good at hiding so there will be one standing some where waiting for you to make a mistake. an average police fine is 400 DH

Take stop sign very seriously. It is among the policemen favorite traps. Come to a complete stop when you see a stop sign look right look left and then proceed ahead. Do this every time you see a stop sign even if you are 100 percent sure that there is no traffic coming.

Radars are plentiful and well hidden. They are available on all major highways and inside large cities. Take the speed limits very literally. If the speed limit is 60 km/hr than the radar will catch you at 61 km/hr

Seat built is mandatory and you’ll be fined if you use your cell phone during driving.